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Recommended: The debate on censorship

In Voltaire’s biography, S.G. Tallentyre penned the famous quote, “I disapprove of what you way, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” This quote is often repeated in first-amendment discussions and freedom of speech debates, as it acknowledges the need to preserve freedom, even in spite of its allowance for distasteful and even potentially offensive expression.
The internet is a powerful venue for knowledge. With information on virtually any topic, collaborative forums, and a massive library of media, it seems at times that everything is available on the internet. However, it is not without its darker side. Within these vast catalogues of knowledge lurk immense amounts of disagreeable, offensive, and obscene material. Just above the blatantly illegal, this distasteful layer of information contains content that could be labeled as vile and revolting by any culture’s standards. The notion of striking this unsuitable material from the internet, and declaring hateful and repulsive content as ‘unfit for public consumption’ is tempting; essentially, mitigate the issue by removing offending content. In our effort to protect ourselves, however, we cannot disregard the freedom of speech. Is it proper to restrict expression on the internet for the sake of limiting exposure to offensive material?
The contention between freedom of speech and decency regulation supporters tends to dissipate when it comes to the topic of children. The objective for all involved appears to be the protection of the young (Seiger 14). To this effect, parents naturally serve as the front-line defense, and given the subjective nature of ascertaining the intolerable, they should also play a crucial role as decision makers for technical ...

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...Works Cited

Fee, John. "Obscenity and the World Wide Web." Brigham Young University Law Review 2007.6 (2007): 1691-1720. Business Source Complete. Web. 22 Dec. 2013.
Reno v. ACLU. 521 U.S. 844 Supreme Court of the United States. 26 Jun. 1997. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 22 Dec. 2013.
Ranum, Marcus. "Should Network Security be Based on Blacklisting or Whitelisting?" Information Security 14.1 (2012): 16-18. Applied Science & Technology Source. Web. 22 Dec. 2013.
Sieger, Jonah. "Communications Decency Act Is Defeated: Landmark Victory For Netizens." Communications of the ACM 39.8 (1996): 13-15. Business Source Complete. Web. 22 Dec. 2013.
Tallentyre, S.G. The Friends of Voltaire. London: Smith, Elder, & Co, 1906. Open Library. Web. 22 Dec. 2013.
United States. Cong. Telecommunications Act of 1996. 114th Cong., 2nd Sess. S. 652. Washington: GPO, 1996. Web. 22 Dec. 2013.

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